UT football: McCoy’s last Heisman shot?

AUSTIN — Most years, the Heisman Trophy is won in November. But unless Texas quarterback makes a case for himself Saturday night, he might be out of the running before the pivotal month even begins.

Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State will mark the last time this season McCoy is scheduled to face a ranked opponent. He’ll also have the benefit of a prime-time national TV audience (partly on ABC, partly on ESPN2) to win favor from the voters. A big performance against the Cowboys could move McCoy to the top of an underwhelming list of candidates, putting him in position to pad his stats and vote totals against weaker competition in November.

But as shown by two of the national Heisman tracking polls (this one at ESPN.com and this one at HeismanPundit.com), McCoy is playing from behind. He’s listed in third place in one poll and fourth in the other (trailing Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen in both), and if he doesn’t make headway this week, he might never be able to do it.

Are there inherent flaws in how the Heisman race is decided? Certainly. Is it a perfect award? Absolutely not. But make no mistake, UT wants McCoy to win it, because those trophies are huge selling points for football programs. And Halloween night will provide a big indicator as to whether the Longhorns will get a third one to display alongside those won by Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams.